France bounced back from their Twickenham drubbing in emphatic style as a seven-try romp at the Stadio Flaminio condemned sorry Italy to a 50-8 defeat and the wooden spoon and a fourth RBS 6 Nations whitewash.

Tom Shanklin's late try as a replacement meant Wales beat Italy 20-15 and remained on course for an RBS 6 Nations title decider against Ireland.

Scotland recorded their first victory in this year's RBS 6 Nations but failed to lift much of the pressure on coach Frank Hadden after a performance which lacked composure and fluency for the majority of the game.

Ireland's tilt at the RBS Nations 6 Nations title gathered further momentum with a scrappy 38-9 victory against Italy at the Stadio Flaminio.

England cruised to an opening 36-11 RBS 6 Nations victory over Italy but the jury remains out on their championship ambitions after a dismal day at Twickenham.

The Six Nations Council and The Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) have agreed a four-year extension to continue RBS's title sponsorship of the RBS 6 Nations. The sponsorship extension, which was agreed in May 2008, means RBS will be title sponsor of the Championship up to and including the 2013 Championship.

Former Wales captain David Pickering has been elected chairman of the RBS 6 Nations.

The RBS 6 Nations fixture schedule 2009 has been announced, with matches taking place between Saturday February 7 and Saturday March 21.

Andrea Marcato's last-minute drop goal handed Scotland their fourth defeat in this year's RBS 6 Nations - but Frank Hadden's men avoided a second successive wooden spoon by the skin of their teeth.

France scored three tries to sink Latin rivals Italy in Paris and keep the RBS 6 Nations Championship title race alive going into the final weekend.

Full-back Rory Lamont has been ruled out of Scotland's final RBS 6 Nations clash against Italy after breaking a bone in his face in the victory over England.

Wales produced an emphatic second-half performance to keep their RBS 6 Nations title campaign on track.